TY - JOUR
T1 - Weekly symptom profiles of nonhospitalized individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the Omicron outbreak in Hong Kong
T2 - A retrospective observational study from a telemedicine center
AU - Luo, Jingyuan
AU - Zhang, Jialing
AU - Tang, Hiu To
AU - Wong, Hoi Ki
AU - Ma, Yanfang
AU - Xie, Duoli
AU - Peng, Bo
AU - Lyu, Aiping
AU - Cheung, Chun Hoi
AU - Bian, Zhaoxiang
N1 - Funding Information:
The free consultation service for COVID-19 patients was supported by the donation from the Tencent Charity Foundation and Hong Kong Baptist University. The technological support of online consultation system was provided by Meridian Medical Network Corp. and Zydsoft company. We thank the Vincent and Lily Woo Foundation and the Health@InnoHK Initiative Fund's support for the research. We thank expert panel and all medical staffs in HKBU-TCMC who dedicated their time and efforts to help patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also thank Dr. Martha Dahlen for her advice in editing this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Hong Kong Baptist University. Journal of Medical Virology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
PY - 2023/2
Y1 - 2023/2
N2 - Omicron BA.2.2 is the dominant variant in the Hong Kong outbreak since
December 31, 2021. There is no study reporting the weekly symptom
profile after infection. In this retrospective study, participants who
tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after December 31, 2021, and registered
in the telemedicine system between March 14 and May 6, 2022, were
analyzed. Among registered 12 950 self-quarantined
COVID-19-positive patients, 11 776 symptomatic patients were included
for weekly symptom profile analysis. A total of 4718 (40.1%) patients
reported symptoms in the first week after a positive test, 2501 (21.2%)
in the second week, 1498 (12.7%) in the third week, 1048 (8.9%) in the
fourth week, and 2011 (17.1%) in over 4 weeks. Cough was the most common
symptom in all participants. Patients in the first week had higher odds
of reporting fever (0.206, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.161–0.263, p < 0.001) and sore throat (0.228, 95% CI: 0.208–0.252, p < 0.001). Patients in over 4 weeks had higher odds of reporting fatigue (1.263, 95% CI: 1.139–1.402, p < 0.001). Further, having at least two vaccine doses linked to lower odds of having fever (0.675, 95% CI: 0.562–0.811, p < 0.001),
but not associated with the presence of cough and fatigue. Diabetic
patients had higher odds of reporting diarrhea (1.637, 95% CI:
1.351–1.982, p < 0.001). Symptoms from Omicron infection may
last for more than 4 weeks and symptom profiles vary from week to week.
Vaccination and comorbidity affect the symptom profiles.
AB - Omicron BA.2.2 is the dominant variant in the Hong Kong outbreak since
December 31, 2021. There is no study reporting the weekly symptom
profile after infection. In this retrospective study, participants who
tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after December 31, 2021, and registered
in the telemedicine system between March 14 and May 6, 2022, were
analyzed. Among registered 12 950 self-quarantined
COVID-19-positive patients, 11 776 symptomatic patients were included
for weekly symptom profile analysis. A total of 4718 (40.1%) patients
reported symptoms in the first week after a positive test, 2501 (21.2%)
in the second week, 1498 (12.7%) in the third week, 1048 (8.9%) in the
fourth week, and 2011 (17.1%) in over 4 weeks. Cough was the most common
symptom in all participants. Patients in the first week had higher odds
of reporting fever (0.206, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.161–0.263, p < 0.001) and sore throat (0.228, 95% CI: 0.208–0.252, p < 0.001). Patients in over 4 weeks had higher odds of reporting fatigue (1.263, 95% CI: 1.139–1.402, p < 0.001). Further, having at least two vaccine doses linked to lower odds of having fever (0.675, 95% CI: 0.562–0.811, p < 0.001),
but not associated with the presence of cough and fatigue. Diabetic
patients had higher odds of reporting diarrhea (1.637, 95% CI:
1.351–1.982, p < 0.001). Symptoms from Omicron infection may
last for more than 4 weeks and symptom profiles vary from week to week.
Vaccination and comorbidity affect the symptom profiles.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Omicron
KW - symptom profile
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85148941003&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/jmv.28447
DO - 10.1002/jmv.28447
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 36583471
AN - SCOPUS:85148941003
SN - 0146-6615
VL - 95
JO - Journal of Medical Virology
JF - Journal of Medical Virology
IS - 2
M1 - e28447
ER -
